It’s not a party without penguins and a leggy blonde

That was a long ten days, that was. The flu fairy came to visit. Everybody’s better now. That’s all I’m saying.

Last night we hosted a potluck dinner to celebrate a committee that BluesRay’s been chairing for nine months, who have now successfully finished their task. A dozen people came.

It was the first time since we’d started renovating that we’d let anybody in the door who wasn’t family or close friends or a contractor. I cleaned for three days. It’s amazing how paint cans and brushes and tools and extra doorknobs can spread themselves thin all over the house. Just like plaster dust.

And there is nothing like the threat of “company’s coming!” to induce a panicky rush to tidy it all up. We can’t have anybody thinking that we’ve been actually living in a renovation project now, can we?

Here’s the leggy blonde sideboard in the dining room as it was this morning. Looks like the penguin ice bucket—it was my mom’s (hi, mom!)—got emptied and put away after the party.

I found the sideboard in December. It’s petite and nicely shaped with that bow front, so it’s a good fit in this small room. And I really like the long legs. It doesn’t appear to take up any floor space—a nifty eye-fooling trick.

From the consistent 1/8″ gap between all the drawer fronts and the frame, I’m guessing this piece originally had veneer that had been damaged and then stripped off. I like it painted, though, and it’s hardwood underneath, so missing veneer is no great loss. Some tiny blocks at the back of the drawers will easily fix the gaps between drawer fronts and the frame.

I love the yellow. Yellow is a happy color! But this paint finish is so raggedy-looking that it appears to have been put on with a wall roller, and I could do without the fake-looking distressing, too. Someday I’ll strip off all the paint, sand it like the dickens, and put on a fresh smooth coat of yellow.

Ditto with the overdone distressing on the Hepplewhite pulls. YMMV, but ugh.

The night before, we finally hung the pretty etched mirror over the sideboard. It’s one of those pieces that I bought to sell, that no one ever seemed to want to buy despite the low price I marked on it. So now it’s a “Nobody’s buying that?! Fine! I’m keeping it then!” piece.

This is why I never make any money.

The green lamp? Another “Fine! I’m keeping it then!” piece. It was a badly pitted brass lamp when I found it. Two coats of Annie Sloan chalk paint—yes, it really does stick to metal!—have aged in an interesting patina-like way. Three years of display at shows, and no nibbles. So I’m keeping it.